Beloved by the queer community for his Oscar nominated work in Longtime Companion, an acclaimed look at the effects of the AIDS crisis, the eclectic Bruce Davison has also worked with a number of classic film’s acclaimed divas.

In the skittering horror of Willard, Davison shared significant screen time with Elsa Lanchester, the Frankenstein Monster’s favored bride. A few years later, he played the nephew of comedic genius Lucille Ball in the celluloid version of the musical Mame. In that project, he added the role of vocalist to the many notches on his creative belt.

Nicely, Davison is still providing layered and passionate support to many of gothic filmdom’s talented divas. His recent work opposite Lin Shaye in Insidious: The Last Key provided both performers with the chance to connect with subtle yet deep emotion. He also provided a glow of kind energy against the more nefarious outpourings of such genre pros as Meg Foster and Dee Wallace in Rob Zombie’s very personal Lords of Salem.

Known to many as the queen of comedy, the adventurous Lucille Ball was also movie royalty. Her many projects ranged from dramas (Stage Door) to musicals (Ziegfeld Follies) to smart amusements (Room Service). She also conquered the blacker edges of cinema with The Dark Corner, a popular film noir, and Lured, a gothic horror piece that had her showgirl facing down a Jack the Ripper type and a very neurotic couturier, played with nervy zest by Boris Karloff.

Admired for her enthusiastic appearances on a number of variety programs, Ball teamed with Mel Tormé to spoof the rock and roll flecked beach films. Nicely, The Surfboard Came Back By Itselfalso provides a bit of Jaws flair for all animals gone wild diehards.

Even Tony winners can be tempted. Just ask the radiant Melba Moore! In The Mandrake Rootepisode of Monsters, this multi-faceted performer found herself compromised by a sexy plant man and her life – or at least that of her character’s – was never quite the same again.

The plotline here finds Moore, as the demure Angela Lyle, clearing out the remains of her mysterious grandmother’s estate. The discovery of a dusty box leads to the emergence of a mysterious plant. Said vine, due to Lyle’s curious tinkering, naturally grows into something tall, handsome, smooth…and full of bloodlust.

Nicely, as an actress, Moore simply navigates her character’s growth from timid to uncontrollably lustful. There is no grand posing, but you truly believe that she has fallen under her supernatural partner’s spell. Meanwhile, Byron Minns, as the vein strewn reason for Moore’s down fall, makes one understand why she would tumble down this murderous rabbit hole, head first.

Accentuated by the series’ unusual twists and turns, this episode ultimately provides something for both enthusiastic show tune lovers and terror anthology buffs alike.

Marlene Dietrich is far from a horror baby. But this cinematic icon did work with Alfred Hitchcock, the genuine master of suspense, in the fun thriller Stage Fright. As a favor, she also graced Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, which contained elements of odd noir and general spookiness, with one of her most indelible portrayals.

This classy lady also knew how to rock and roll as evidenced by her smooth take on Boomerang Baby, a staple of her live shows for years.

This simple, sexy performance proves that Dietrich was not just one thing…she was everything!!!!

She is known for incisively combining fear with strength as the damaged Kristen in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Nicely, the truly talented Tuesday Knight brought many of those same qualities to the 6th season Trevor episode of The X-Files.

Here, as the concerned Jackie Gurwitch, Knight enters familiar territory: fighting back against a psychopath. The villain in question this time around is the maniacal Wilson Rawls, played with insane glee by the accomplished John Diehl. Of course, just like Freddy, Rawls has special powers. He can alter his body chemistry to absorb bullets and walk through walls. This latter trick almost does in Knight’s Gurwitch, but our favored actress, thankfully, remains strong and lives to tell the tale after the insidious attack.

Radiating with fear and determination, Knight registers with impact here. She also gives Gurwitch a hint of trailer park defiance – a decided detour from the middle class background of Kristen – proving what an eclectic performer she can be in the process.

From the gilded Broadway stages to poverty row, the luminescent Melba Moore has seen it all. Her appearances in Def By Temptation and The Mandrake Rootepisode of Monsters also prove that she likes to put a little fear into the hearts of her devoted fans.

Further showing her eclectic nature, Moore, known for the fluidity of her rhythm and blues crooning, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance for her sexy take on Read My Lips, the title track of her successful 1985 album.

Move over, Riverdale! The sexy cast of Wicked Enigma is ready to take your place.

Big words, perhaps, but this LGBTQ friendly project, revolving around the gothic, soap strewn craziness that ensues after a tragic onset accident, is full of attractive, well cast people doing their devious best to stay alive….very much like a certain, very popular CW show.

Nicely, queer fans are sure to thrill to the complicated romance of Max (Terrence Edmonds), an out and proud cinematic genius in the making, and Austin (Andrew Etzel), a well known yet extremely closeted actor. Edmonds and Etzel provide nice layers to their characterizations, aligning themselves, sympathetically, with the audience. But directors Edmonds and Jake Doull work wonders with all of the performers, particularly with Charlotte Evelyn Williams, who shines with vibrant defiance as the rejected Sasha, making the first episode a true pleasure to view.